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my advice on this for portfolio reviews is, if you get nervous during a review, the best thing you can do is shut your mouth! And that goes double when the reviewer is giving you a crit. Listen, nod, take notes, DO NOT ARGUE!

I agree with this. I sat in on some portfolio reviews for the SND conference in Boston this past year. I was with some friends, other designers at different newspapers from the area and we were all at the same table looking at portfolios. I remember having one student in particular who seemed nervous at first and told us back-stories to every single page in his portfolio. Things like, who his roommates were and why their girlfriends, sister did something to the star football player who...blah, blah, blah. We critiqued his work and tried to be constructive on areas where he could improve. He began defending his work by arguing with us. I'll never forget his last words; "Well, that's just how we do it where I'm from." (fyi:I think he was from Atlanta)

After he walked away, it took a second or two for the four of us to realize what just happened. I've never experienced anything like it. He had traveled all the way to Boston to tell newspaper art directors how things are done. It was a first. So, yeah, please don't argue.

God yes, LESS IS MORE at a portfolio review. I can add one from my own experience:

8.) Do NOT bring original 16x24 charcoal life drawings and cast studies to an interview, particularly if it's for a graphic design position at a major newspaper.

My neighbor worked at the Boston Globe and wanted to do me a favor, so he set up an interview there for me during my sophomore year in college. I didn't want a job in graphic design anyway and was caught totally off guard, since my body of work until that point was all student stuff. I wasn't considered for the job of course and the nice interviewer was patient with me, but I could tell she was thinking "What the hell am I supposed to do with these... and oh crap, now there's charcoal all over my computer desk."

Also, I've been on the other end of things and done some portfolio reviews, both for the sake of my employer and recently at workshops. Take-aways are very important - DON'T give me a generic CD with your contact info written on it in Sharpie. Not once have I popped an art CD into my computer after an interview, it's been my experience that CDs just get filed away and forgotten. (If your demo reel is on the CD, this may be a different story, but having a personal portfolio website is always preferred.)

Plus, I am really crappy with names and faces (like most people), especially if I've seen like 50 portfolios that day; give me something visual to easily remind me who you are! PUT SOME KIND OF ART ON YOUR BUSINESS CARD!!! I also recommend printing up inexpensive booklets to give to art directors. If you decide the job isn't for you, you can always take it back but to give it to a potential employer is not only a great reminder to them of your body of work, but it's also like giving a little gift. I have had a lot of success with giving out the books, if nothing else for the sake of networking.

Excellent points, Jason and Steph. And everyone else. I'll be doing portfolio reviews in May so I'll be sure to incorporate a lot of this discussion into my blog before then.

IdiotApathy -- That was different -- you were hanging out with a bunch of friends sharing sketchbooks. In that case, having a quick access to a gadgety portfolio (with good work on it) was a cool thing.

By the way — it’s easy for me to say what’s wrong with a presentation from my side of the desk, but there is a reason I never became a freelancer. I’d starve to death while falling into everyone if these pitfalls.

This is some excellent advice guys. And while it mostly seems pretty common sense, having it in writing like this makes it easy to put on that mental checklist. I usually think of myself as fairly poised, but I know nerves get the best of me plenty of times- especially with that self-critiquing tendency. I don't think I've ever done it in front of an AD yet, but it's probably a habit to avoid period.

Here's something: Plain ol' figure drawing/painting. Does it ever have a place in a portfolio? I noticed a lot of that from my fellow hopefuls over NYCC and didn't feel it was MY place to knock it, but to me it created the impression of unnecessary filler. No matter how pretty, there's just no content.

"The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity."
-Thomas Carlyle